Frederick Anderson Spring 2022

The vibe at Frederick Anderson’s spring 2022 runway was slinky and sexy but refined, with no unseemly displays of flesh. After all, Anderson creates clothing for many of the same ladies who were customers of his former partner, Douglas Hannant, five years ago, before they shuttered the uptown ladies’ brand and Frederick went off on his own.

The color palette was chocolate, beige, cream, and camel with a pop of saffron red, and an oversized fern print. This palette of neutrals has been a staple of fashionable New Yorkers since the 1970s, when Halston introduced women to these flattering tones. Similar to last season, Anderson’s fabrics included slinky satins, luxurious tweeds, lamé, and a few delicate hand-crocheted sweaters and dresses, this time in contrasting cream and red.

For daytime, there is an adorable long sleeve romper in a great coco brown palm print and a cream V-neck crochet dress with an asymmetrical hemline. The print surfaced again as a pair of palazzo pants worn with a navel baring cream crochet top with a built-in bustier.

As in his previous showings, fluidity was a key focus and the tightly curated collection designed for evening wear that flows on and off the body. The body-hugging gowns appears to be poured on the models. Conversely, there were also gowns that flowed off the body such as a billowy empire neckline in the coco brown print.

Anderson’s latest implies that his uptown ladies are ready to go out and possibly travel to warm destinations this fall and winter and show-off their figures. At the very least, if they elect to stay home, they’ll be resuming their at-home entertaining pre-pandemic style where the invite reads, “Please dress for dinner.” For this round of entertaining, leave the sweats at home, even if they’re cashmere, and put on a pretty dress and heels.

—Vivian Kelly